 |
Sylvie Valayre (born 10th october 1964, Paris) is a French operatic soprano known for her versatile interpretations of lyric, spinto, and dramatic coloratura soprano parts. She sings grueling roles like Abigaille, Lady Macbeth or Turandot as well as lighter pieces like Giordano's Maddalena, Cio-Cio San (Madama Butterfly), or Verdi's Desdemona at major opera houses around the world.
Born in Paris, she graduated at the Paris Conservatory under the guidance of Christiane Eda-Pierre and Régine Crespin. She attended master classes of Cathy Berberian, Galina Vishnevskaya, Gino Bechi, Paul von Schilawsky in Florence and Montpellier, Giuseppe Di Stefano, who later chose her to perform a concert with him at Théâtre du Châtelet. Later, she undertook advanced studies with tenor Sergio Tedesco and with mezzo-soprano Catherine Green.
She began her career in 1984 with a play about Maria Malibran at the Théâtre Marigny in Paris, performing excerpts from operas like Semiramide and Norma (also available as DVD). Soon after, Mstislav Rostropovich and Galina Vishnevskaya asked her to perform the title role in their production of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's The Tsar's Bride at the Rome Opera.
In 1987, she sang her first Mozart opera, performing the role of Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte . Other roles during this stage of her career included Mimi in La Bohème , Tosca in Tosca , Magda in La rondine , Violetta in La traviata , Norma in Norma , Leonore in Fidelio , Manon in Manon Lescaut , Thaïs in Thaïs , Adina in L'elisir d'amore , Liù in Turandot , the Infante in Der Zwerg (or The Infante's Birthday) by Zemlinsky, La Voix humaine by Poulenc and more. In 1994, she was performing in major Italian houses in works like La Voix humaine (Trieste, Genova, Naples), Cavalleria rusticana (Trieste, Bologna), L'heure espagnole and Il segreto di Susanna (Opera of Trieste).
In 1995, in a production touring through the Netherlands, she debuted in the part of Lady Macbeth, later one of her signature parts.
In 1996, with the production of Venice's La Fenice, she made her debut in Warsaw in the part of Elisabetta in Don Carlo . A few months later followed her debuts in Nabucco at Covent Garden Opera, Madama Butterfly in Naples and Venice (La Fenice) and in Don Carlo at Royal Albert Hall in London.
In 1997, Milan invited her onto the famous stage of La Scala to perform Ponchielli's La Gioconda . Her debut in Milan was soon followed by other debuts at other famous opera houses: Madama Butterfly at San Francisco Opera, Verdi's Jerusalem at Carnegie Hall in New York, Nabucco in Zürich with Nello Santi as well as Nabucco, Aida and Tosca at the famous Arena di Verona, Macbeth in Paris and Tosca in Berlin. Aida in Munich followed and, in 2000, her first performances at the Metropolitan Opera in Madama Butterfly. Later in 2000 Manon Lescaut at Opera Pacific, Ernani at the Madrid Opera, Aida in Macerata, Tosca in Paris and Tokyo, La Gioconda at Carnegie Hall and Macbeth in Berlin.
The year 2001 brought her to the Lyric Opera of Chicago as Tosca, to Madrid with Verdi's Requiem, to Brussels (Théâtre de la Monnaie) with Antonio Pappano and Zürich with Macbeth, to Berlin in the title part of Aida and to Macerata with Norma.
In 2002 she sang her first Chrysothemis (Elektra) in Madrid under Daniel Barenboim, Madama Butterfly in Tokyo with Maestro Myung-whun Chung, Tosca at the Metropolitan Opera in New York with Daniel Oren, the title part of Salome at Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., with Heinz Fricke and Verdi's Requiem in New York. In September and October, she returned to the Metropolitan Opera with Plácido Domingo and James Levine to give her first performances of Andrea Chénier's Maddalena.
The 2003-2004 season was characterized by some significant first performances, such as the title part of Turandot in Berlin with Kent Nagano; the part of the Empress in Strauss's Die Frau ohne Schatten , also in Berlin with Christian Thielemann; the part of Minnie in Puccini's La fanciulla del West in Zürich and the part of Amelia in Un ballo in maschera in Turin.
Other performances in 2003-04 were Tosca at the Metropolitan Opera and in Vienna, Madame Butterfly in Chicago and Naples, Macbeth in Berlin as well as Nabucco and La Gioconda in Zürich, again with Nello Santi. In August 2004 she joined Plácido Domingo for a Gala Concert La corona di pietra at the Arena di Verona (including a DVD production by Sony Classical).
The engagements of the 2004-05 season included, among others, Salome in Braunschweig and Athens with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as in Rome with the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia and in Tokyo; Nabucco and Fedora at the Vienna State Opera; Tosca in Zürich with Nello Santi, at the New York Metropolitan Opera with James Conlon, and in Washington, D.C.; Verdi's Aida at the Thermae of Caracalla in Rome, directed by Plácido Domingo, concluded the season.
In 2005-06, Domingo again invited her to Washington, D.C., to take part in the Gala performances Trilogy – Domingo and Guests in 3 Acts as Fedora. Salome, Macbeth and Turandot at the Berlin State Opera, Tosca and Nabucco in Zürich, Aida at the Vienna State Opera and in Munich followed. She also participated in important new productions like Macbeth as Lady at the Verdi Festival in Parma under the baton of Bruno Bartoletti (including a DVD production by the label TDK) and as Elvira in Verdi's Ernani at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, both in June 2006.
After the great successes gained with Puccini's La fanciulla del West and Giordano's Andrea Chénier at the Deutsche Oper Berlin in September and October 2006, Valayre's engagements in 2006-07 also included Nabucco at the Opera House of Zürich, Manon Lescaut at Miami's Florida Grand Opera, Macbeth at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin and her role debut as Desdemona in Verdi's Otello at the Beethoven Festival in Warsaw. The 2006-07 season was concluded by a new production of Macbeth at Glyndebourne Festival Opera and the London Proms.
Her performances for 2007-08 included Tosca at the Opéra National de Paris, Manon Lescaut in Genova, Nabucco at Berlin's Deutsche Oper and Turandot in Tel Aviv. She also performed an extensive solo concert at the festival "Musiques au coeur" in Antibes in July 2008. In August 2008, she could be heard in Richard Strauss´ Four Last Songs and Ludwig van Beethoven's 9th Symphony at Šaľa São Paulo, in Brazil, as part of the Cultura Artística International Series.
In the 2008-09 season, Sylvie Valayre could be heard frequently throughout Germany, among others at Semperoper Dresden and Staatsoper Berlin in Macbeth and Turandot as well as at Oper Leipzig in Peter Konwitschny's new production of Giuseppe Verdi's Aida. In January 2009, she debuted at San Diego Opera as Tosca. In May and June 2009, Valayre was singing Turandot at Washington National Opera as well as in Budapest for two Gala performances.
In 2009–10, she returned to San Diego Opera for Nabucco, to Oper Leipzig for Aida , to Staatsoper Berlin for Tosca and gave her role debut as Odabella in Verdi's Attila in Marseille. In the title role of Puccini's Turandot , she gave her house debut at Monte-Carlo Opera and inaugurated the new opera house in Guangzhou (China) under the baton of Lorin Maazel in May 2010.
In the 2010–11 season, Sylvie Valayre returned to the Opéra Bastille in Paris as Giorgetta in Puccini's Il tabarro under the baton of Philippe Jordan, sang a gala performance of Madama Butterfly in Mannheim and gave her debuts at Beejing Opera as Turandot and at Royal Opera Copenhagen as Empress in Strauss' Die Frau ohne Schatten .
In November 2011, she sang her first Carmen at the Festival Ninon Vallin.
Performances in 2013 include a concert in London and her role debut as Senta in The Flying Dutchman at the Montepulciano Festival.
After her debut at the Metropolitan Opera New York in 2000 as Cio-Cio San, the New York Times described her portrayal as "lovely, vulnerable" and reported that "her singing had poignancy and beauty - standing ovation".
In 2005, the Washington Post considered her Tosca in Washington, D.C., to be "filled with sparkling, stratospheric moments", noted that "here was a pleasing artistry in her singing that merged accurate intonation with an ability to move her sound smoothly across a wide vocal range" and wrote that "the top of her soprano voice is nothing less than extraordinary".
Great Britain's The Daily Telegraph reported on Verdi's Macbeth at the London Proms 2007 that Valayre was "a real find of a Lady Macbeth" and that she would possess "the ideal voice for the role: a dramatic soprano with an incisive edge and the dark-tinged richness of a mezzo."
1984: "La Malibran"
Théâtre Marigny, Paris
DVD
1991: Raffaello de Banfield: "Una lettera d'amore di Lord Byron"
Gianfranco Masini; Orchestra Sinfonica dell'Emilia Romagna "Arturo Toscanini"
CD, Ermitage ERM 403
1991: Felice Lattuada: "Le preziose ridicole"
Gianfranco Masini; Orchestra Sinfonica dell'Emilia Romagna "Arturo Toscanini"
CD, Aura Classics
1992: Philippe Hersant: "Le Chateau des Carpathes"
David Robertson; Orchestre Philharmonique de Montpellier
CD, Accord
1995: "Easter Concert from Paris" (Jean-Louis Florentz: "Mary's prayer at Golgotha")
Jean-Jacques Kantorow; Paris Orchestral Ensemble
DVD, Goldline Classics
Orchestra Arena di Verona
DVD, Sony - BMG
2006: Giuseppe Verdi: "Macbeth"
Bruno Bartoletti; Orchestra del Teatro Regio di Parma
DVD, TDK Music
2007: Christmas Album (Sylvie Valayre sings the traditional "What Child is This?")
Camerata of London
CD, MSM-CD
Audio:
Video:
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| Other | |
Michèle Crider is an American lirico spinto operatic soprano. She has appeared in many of the great opera house in the world including the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, the Metropolitan Opera in New York, San Francisco Opera, Los Angeles Opera and the state operas of Vienna, Munich, Berlin and Hamburg. She has sung under Riccardo Muti, Daniel Barenboim, Zubin Mehta, James Levine, Nello Santi, Christoph von Dohnányi, Semyon Bychkov, Seiji Ozawa, Riccardo Chailly and Colin Davis. She is professor of vocal performance at the Mozarteum University Salzburg.
Eliane Coelho is a Brazilian soprano singer. She was a soprano in the Frankfurt Opera and performed dozens of roles at the Vienna Staatsoper.
Daniela Dessì was an Italian operatic soprano.
Daniel Oren is an Israeli conductor.
Natalia Rom, soprano, was born in Kazan, in the Soviet Union, on May 14, 1950, and graduated from the Leningrad Conservatory. In late 1976, she emigrated to New Orleans, where she attended Loyola University's College of Music, and studied voice with Patricia Havranek. In 1979, she made her professional debut in a small role in the New Orleans Opera Association's Die Zauberflöte. That same year, she won the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. In 1980, she sang the title role in Aïda, for the Seattle Opera.
Joan Pons Álvarez is a Spanish operatic baritone, known internationally as Juan Pons. He is most famous for his Verdi roles.
Radmila Bakočević, is a Serbian operatic soprano who had a major international opera career that began in 1955 and ended upon her retirement from the stage in 2004. During her career, she sang at most of the world's important opera houses, including performances throughout Europe, North and South America. She forged important long-term artistic partnerships with two opera houses during her career: the National Theatre in Belgrade and the Vienna State Opera.
Kamen Tchanev / Kamen Chanev was a Bulgarian operatic tenor who enjoyed an international career.
Anda-Louise Bogza is a celebrated Romanian opera soprano. In 1994, she won both the First Prize and the Audience Prize at the Vienna International Singing Competition. In 2007, she was honored with the Thalia Award.
Vladimir Vasilyevich Galouzine is a Russian tenor. He has performed in such Russian operas as The Queen of Spades, Boris Godunov and Khovanshchina and has performed the lead tenor roles in Italian operas including Madama Butterfly, Otello, Tosca, Aida, and Manon Lescaut.
Giuliano Ciannella was an Italian operatic tenor who had a major international career from the mid-1970s through the late 1990s. He was notably a regular performer at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City from 1979 through 1986, the Lyric Opera of Chicago between 1982 and 1988, and at the Vienna State Opera from 1985 up until the end of his career. Ciannella mostly performed roles from the Italian repertory, particularly excelling in the operas of Giuseppe Verdi and Giacomo Puccini.
Maria Dragoni is an Italian operatic soprano active international career in major opera house from 1984 to present.
He Hui, is a Chinese operatic lirico-spinto soprano known in the West and on record covers as Hui He.
Giovanni Meoni is an Italian operatic baritone.
Gaston Rivero is an Uruguayan-US American operatic tenor.
Stefano La Colla is an Italian tenor who has given recitals and performed in opera internationally.
Svetla Vassileva is a Bulgarian opera singer (soprano).
Fabio Sartori is an Italian operatic tenor. He is particularly known for his interpretations of Italian roles by Giuseppe Verdi, Giacomo Puccini and of the Verismo.
Luisa Maragliano is an Italian soprano.
Marco Armiliato is an Italian opera conductor.
